Chapter XX: Outrage and Disloyalty (2)

_July 27th_.--I hope that my answer to the Duc de Broglie the day before yesterday will convince England of the value I set upon our good intelligence, and of the open honesty of French policy. I hope, too, that my declarations may appease Italy and Turkey. I have done my best, and if I do not succeed it will not be my fault.

Our treaty of commerce is my chief source of anxiety, and for my part I am trying to avoid a rupture. But there are the resolutions of the two Chambers which cripple the negotiators and above all our minister of commerce. These are impassable limits to the best will. The negotiations will doubtless begin again in Paris, in about a fortnight, but it is not yet certain. The incident you point out is very curious, and England becoming Protectionist, and England becoming Protectionist again under Mr. Gladstone, would be an astonishing spectacle....

Je ne savais pas que l'ile de Man fut 'le royaume des chats sans queue.'

The Journal meantime notes:--

_June 3rd_.--To Foxholes: beautiful weather; 13th, back to town. More dinners.

_30th_.--To Drury Lane to see the German company act 'Julius Caesar.'

_July 2nd_.--Dinner at Walpole's to meet Archbishop Tait, Arthur Stanley, Lord Coleridge, Lord Eustace Cecil.

_6th_.--Arthur Stanley's garden party at the Abbey. Lord Carnarvon's dinner to the Antiquaries. [Footnote: Lord Carnarvon was president of the Society of Antiquaries, of which Reeve was, at this time, a vice-president.]

_July 13th_.--Breakfast of Philobiblon at Lord Crawford's. Large garden party at Holland House. Great heat.

_16th_.--To Foxholes and back. 18th, Arthur Stanley died.

_July 23rd_.--From London to Government House, Isle of Man, on a visit to the Henry Lochs--eleven hours.

_25th_.--To Peel Castle with Loch and Coleridge; thence to Castletown. 27th, Ramsay.

_July 29th_.--To Barrow in Furness. Furness Abbey. [Thence to Scotland--Ormiston, Novar, Perth, Abington, &c.]

_August 24th_.--Back at Foxholes.

_From Archbishop Tait_

August 16th.

My dear Reeve,--It seems to me that a most important service might be done if a good article was published in the 'Edinburgh' on the pernicious periodical literature which spreads low Radicalism and second-hand scraps of infidelity amongst the labouring classes, both of town and country. My friend Mr. Benham lately gave a lecture at Birmingham on the literature of this or a kindred style, written for boys--'Police News' and the like. We do little for the people if we only educate them to read and rejoice in this trash. Ever yours,

A. C. CANTUAR.

The hint was not lost on Reeve, but it did not bear fruit till nearly six years later. In January 1887 the 'Edinburgh Review' contained a strong article on 'The Literature of the Streets,' in which the proposal was definitely made for the issue of wholesome fiction and good works of good writers, sensational and otherwise, in penny booklets. Eight or nine years later the idea was taken up by at least two publishers; such penny books are now issued by thousands, and, together with the countless number of halfpenny and penny periodicals, do something to mitigate the evil complained of by the Archbishop. The Journal notes:--

_September 9th_.--Picnic in New Forest with the Lochs and Clerkes. 30th, steamed round the Isle of Wight.

_To Lord Derby_

_Foxholes, October 6th_.--I must express to you the very great pleasure with which I have read your article [Footnote: 'Ireland and the Land Act,' in the _Nineteenth Century_ for October. It does not attempt to argue the question of Home Rule, but concludes with the pregnant words: 'My present object will be sufficiently accomplished if I have indicated some of the difficulties which lie before us, and explained why--at least in my belief--it is premature to say, "Now we have settled our Irish troubles and may deal in peace with questions that concern England."'] on the Irish Land Act. It states in the most terse and telling language precisely the views I have entertained for the last two years; and the conclusions it suggests are even more striking than those it expresses. The ministers of England, be they who they may, have a difficult task before them. The odd thing is that our present ministers seem totally unconscious of the difficulty and the dangers. I am told that they view the state of Ireland with great complacency. It is astonishing how office blinds people's eyes.

We have lost two members of The Club--Lord Hatherley and alas! Arthur Stanley. I hope you will be able to suggest somebody to replace them.

_From Lord Derby_

_October 8th_.--I am glad you liked the article in the 'Nineteenth Century.' I do believe it comes near to an accurate statement of the facts of the case--no one can hope for more than approximate accuracy in such matters--and on that account I expected it to be equally disagreeable to both sides. Its reception has been better than seemed probable. Gladstone has spoken out his mind about Parnell, and quite right too; but I wish he had not accused the unlucky loyalists in Ireland of being slack in their own defence. He does not know, evidently, how much they are overmatched...

As to The Club. Two names have occurred to me--one, Browning the poet, who is an excellent talker (I have heard him), and as unlike his books as possible; the other, Sir John Lubbock. What do you say?

The opening sentence of the next letter, from Lord Derby, appears to refer to an after-dinner speech made by Mr. Gladstone at Leeds, on the 7th, when he had alternately complimented Mr. Dillon and denounced Mr. Parnell. The latter part, the denunciation of Mr. Parnell and his faction, is unusually straightforward, and might profitably be studied in connection with some of Mr. Gladstone's later speeches.

_October 11th_.--I don't understand Gladstone's phrase any better than you. Probably the explanation of it is that in Ireland it will be read as meaning fresh concession, in England as meaning coercion. For anybody who had leisure and disposition to take it up, I think a very interesting and useful article for the 'Edinburgh Review' might be made out of the present state of Irish literature and journalism. I do not believe the Irish lower and middle classes ever read an English book or newspaper, and their native literature is saturated throughout with the bitterest hatred to England and all that belongs to our side the water. We do not in the least know here the kind of mental food which is supplied to the amiable Celt. A good analysis of it would throw more light on the very old subject of why they hate us so.

Reeve adopted the suggestion, and the subject was discussed in an article on 'Irish Discontent' in the next number of the 'Review.' Lord Derby goes on:--

_October 15th_.--Since you wrote the Government has screwed up its courage to act. I never knew any proceedings so universally approved as the arrest of Parnell. [Footnote: Mr. Parnell, Mr. Dillon, Mr. Sexton, and the chief officials of the League were arrested in Dublin on the 13th and lodged in Kilmainham.] But we have not seen the end yet.

_October 21st_.--Many thanks for your letter, which is returned. I do believe that it would be of use, as making intelligible the present state of Irish feeling, to show to the English public (which is absolutely ignorant on the subject) what the kind of instruction is that the Irish peasant and farmer receives.

Another matter. What do you think of Matthew Arnold as a possible member of The Club? He is a good fellow and his literary reputation is very considerable. I think we could do with him if he would attend.

_From M. B. St.-Hilaire_

_November 22nd_.--You know how little value I set on my office; I only accepted it from a sense of duty, and quit it to-day, not only without regret but with great pleasure. I am glad to receive your congratulations because you correctly estimate the person to whom they are addressed.

Like yourself, I am not without anxiety for the future. In placing matters in the hands of M. Gambetta, I said all I possibly could on the affairs of Europe and our relations with Germany; but I will not swear that more attention will be paid to my advice than to that of many others.

The Journal has:--

_December 10th_.--To Timsbury; 13th to Foxholes. The Mintos were living at Bournemouth. Lunched with them on the 31st.

1882, _January 1st_.--At Foxholes. Sir A. Lyall came.

_9th_.--Returned to London. A few dinners.

_From Mr. E. Cheney_

_Badger Hall, January 19th_.--I have been reading the political articles in the last number of the 'Edinburgh' with great interest and pleasure. The one on 'The Bonapartes,' though not strictly political, amused me much, as at one time of my life I knew Hortense and Louis Bonaparte intimately. Hortense was an agreeable woman, very French, but lively and full of anecdote. She had been and was _tres galante_, but with decency. When I knew her at Rome she was near fifty, and though not handsome, had still the appearance of once having been a desirable woman.... Her son was then with her--a youth of my own age, with whom I was intimate without liking him. He was cold, disagreeable, and full of pretension, silent and reserved in his own family, and anxious for distinction, which no one seemed willing to accord him. I believe--contrary to the usual opinion--that he was the son of Louis Bonaparte; he was like him. He was short, not ill-made, but ungraceful; his face was plain, his skin bad, complexion muddy; small pig's eyes, a coarse nose and mouth, lank hair, with little expression, and what he had far from good. Neither I, nor any that then knew him, thought him at all clever. I remember he got into a ludicrous scrape by intruding, in female attire, into the apartments of the mistress of the Spanish ambassador, from whence he was kicked out with every circumstance of ignominy.

When the disturbances broke out in the Papal States, he took a part in them which was eminently unfitting, as he and his mother had found hospitality in the States of the Church which they were refused in every other country. I saw Hortense at night, just before her hurried departure from Rome, when the news of her son's participation in the revolt at Ancona became public. I had always been well treated by her, and had tasted her hospitality both at Rome and at Arenenberg, and wished to show her sympathy and interest, though I had nothing else in my power.... She received a passport from Sir Hamilton Seymour and travelled through France. In Paris she had an interview with Louis Philippe, who was kind to her. In the days of her prosperity she had had an opportunity of showing kindness to the King's mother. She showed me a letter from that princess, in which there were very ardent expressions of gratitude for the service rendered to her. This she told me she intended to show to L. Philippe as the certificate for her claims on his protection. I saw her in London several times during her stay; she returned to Switzerland, and I never saw her again.

Louis Bonaparte I only spoke to once afterwards. I happened to be at Cork when he landed there from America. I was at the same inn, and I understood he was in great distress for money. I asked to see him, and we met. I asked him if he required any trifling service that I could render him, thinking a five-pound note might take him to London. He thanked me, but said he was supplied for the moment. He lived with the D'Orsay and Blessington set, which I did not frequent. I did not call on him, and in Paris I never afterwards made the slightest effort to renew my former acquaintance with him....

I had intended saying something about the two other articles that relate to home politics, but I have been already too prolix. I must tell you, however, how much I like them. Whigs as well as Tories will soon cease to be separate; the struggle will soon be between those who have _culottes_ and those who have not. We have got already to the Girondist ministry--a party I hate particularly, in spite of their pretensions to virtue and philosophy, or perhaps in consequence of it. There are some men of birth and distinction who belong to the party; but the Levesons and the Cavendishes may soon find themselves stranded like the Narbonnes and Montmorencies amongst the Rolands and the Condorcets....

When are your new volumes to make their appearance? I long to have them as though I had not already read them.

_To Mr. E. Cheney_

_Rutland Gate, January 20th_.--I am uncommonly glad to hear from you again, and I have to thank you for a most interesting and amusing letter. My acquaintance with Louis Napoleon began when yours left off, and I saw a good deal of him in 1838 and 1839. He wanted me to translate his 'Idees Napoleoniennes.' But when he became a great man I dropped his acquaintance.

I am glad you like my tirade. I suspect my Whig friends do not; for the more one asserts Whig principles, the bitterer is the reflection on those who desert and betray them. I do not believe that the majority of the country or of the Liberal Party is Radical; but the danger is that a violent minority always overpowers an inert majority. I care nothing at all for any political persons, and but little for parties. It seems to me that the right and the wrong of government lies in the principles that regulate it, some of which are as certain as the truths of mathematics.

The 'Greville Memoirs' have rather slumbered of late, but I am gradually screwing up my courage to begin printing, slowly.

We are very well, and spent our Christmas pleasantly in Hampshire, the weather being delightful. London is dark and _un_delightful.

Then the Journal:--

_February 24th_.--Visit to the Markbys at Oxford. Vespers at New College. Dined at All Souls.

_28th_.--The Club. I was in the Chair. Mr. Gladstone attended; Lord Derby, Maine, Hewett, Tyndall, Coleridge. Matthew Arnold elected.

_March 23rd_.--Electrical Exhibition at Crystal Palace, with Dr. Mann.

_April 1st_.--To Foxholes. Very fine weather. No rain for three months.

_To Mr. T. Norton Longman_

_Foxholes, April 4th_.--I like the concluding pages by Froude in the Carlyle book, but I am disappointed in Mrs. Carlyle's letters. They are pleasant and cheery, but there are thousands of women who write as well. As for Carlyle himself, he is _odious_--arrogance, vanity, self-conceit, ingratitude to old friends--I never thought I should dislike him so much. He seems to have looked at everything the wrong side outwards.

The Journal notes:--

_April 11th_.--Lunched with the Mintos. They drove me to Christchurch. Lady Minto died on the 21st.

_29th_.--A great salt hurricane that singed the trees all over the country, and also in France.

_May 5th_.--Saw Lord Frederick Cavendish before he started for Dublin. On the 6th he was murdered.

_From the Duke of Argyll_

_May 8th_.--You ask a difficult question about politics. On the one hand, I see no possibility of a Conservative Government being formed just now, nor do I believe that a Liberal Government could be formed on purely Whig lines. On the other hand, I have the deepest conviction of the mischievous tendencies of Gladstone's leadership, and of the utter instability he is imparting to all the fundamental principles of government as hitherto understood in all civilised countries. I can only advise that the truth in this matter should be spoken freely, in the hope that when Gladstone disappears from the stage, there may be some return to sounder principles of legislation. I do not wish to see a change of Government just now. The Tories could not govern Ireland in its present condition; at least it would be a dangerous experiment. Half the Liberal party, which now supports coercion when it is forced on Gladstone, would undoubtedly oppose every possible form of it if proposed by Tories. The deplorable disaster made known to-day will have its effect. I hope it will force the Government to give form and substance to an amended Coercion Act--strengthening the ordinary law and widely extending the sphere of summary jurisdiction. If this be done well and sufficiently, it will be better than the power of arbitrary arrest. But before this event, I really feared that die Government might do nothing of the kind.

The Journal mentions:--

_May 20th_.--At Foxholes, till June 13th. Bought rowing boat.

_June 20th_.--Great dinner at The Club to the Duc d'Aumale. Nineteen present.

_21st_.--Great dinner at Archbishop Tait's at Lambeth. Forty-three people. Evening service in Lambeth Chapel.

_22nd_.--Wagner's 'Meistersinger' at Drury Lane.

_From Sir Henry Taylor_ [Footnote: A very old friend of Reeve's. See _ante_, vol. i. p. 91.]

Bournemouth, June 22nd.

Dear Mr. Reeve,--Thanks for telling me what splendours I missed at The Club dinner. You ask what Dr. Johnson would have said if he had stepped in. As it was his own Club, he would have been gracious; but it was not every dinner that could please him. Do you remember his remark as he went away with Boswell from a dinner at one of the colleges at Oxford? 'This merriment amongst parsons is mighty offensive.'

I always remember the singularly representative character of the only dinner I have had an opportunity of attending since I was elected. Literature and Learning represented by yourself, Dr. Dictionary Smith, Lecky and Lord Acton; the Church by the Archbishop of Canterbury and Dean Stanley; political life by Lord Derby and Spencer Walpole; the Law by Lord Romilly, and the Dukes by the Duke of Cleveland--and there was no one else. It was very pleasant, and there were not too many for conversation in common.

I always feel that, as I have not been in London for more than a day since that dinner, and am not likely to be there again, it is hardly right to occupy a place which might afford so much pleasure to some one else; but I have said this before, and your answer was that no one ever retired from The Club. As I am in my eighty-second year, I suppose it will not be long [Footnote: He lived four years longer, dying in 1886.] before Providence will place my seat at the disposal of some one who will turn it to more account. Believe me, yours sincerely,

Henry Taylor.

_From the Comte de Paris_

Chateau d'Eu, 22 juin.

Mon cher Monsieur Reeve,--J'apprends par M. Gavard que vous avez l'intention de venir en France vers le 20 juillet. Je m'empresse de vous dire tout le plaisir que vous nous ferez, a la comtesse de Paris et a moi, en commencant ce voyage par un sejour au Chateau d'Eu. Je regrette seulement que vous ayez l'intention de l'entreprendre seul. J'ai fait ici, il y a trois semaines, de fort belles peches a la truite, qui m'ont fait regretter que Mademoiselle Reeve ne fut pas ici. Vous trouverez chez nous le Duc d'Audiffret Pasquier, que vous avez deja vu ici, je crois, il y a deux ans; et un general americain, qui a servi avec moi sous M'Clellan, M. de Trobriand.

Je ne vous parle pas de la situation de nos deux pays en Orient: elle est penible, et il me semble que le dernier numero du _Punch_ l'exprime avec une verite parfaite.

Veuillez offrir mes hommages a Madame Reeve et me croire votre affectionne,

LOUIS-PHILIPPE D'ORLEANS.

The Journal here notes:--

_July_.--The Egyptian Expedition was now resolved on. [Alexandria was bombarded on the 11th: the Army Reserves were called out on the 25th.] Lord Granville thought it would be finished before the end of August.

_16th_.--Crossed to Boulogne. Thence by Abbeville to Chateau d'Eu. Duc d'Audiffret, St. Marc Girardin, Duchesse de Montpensier. 21st, drive in the Great Park. Treport. 24th, returned to London. 28th, to Foxholes: quiet life.

_To Mr. E. Cheney_

_Foxholes, October 20th_.--I am glad the article on Shelley [Footnote: 'Shelley and Mary,' _Edinburgh Review_, October 1882.] has interested you. The perusal of these private letters and correspondence has considerably altered and raised my estimate of Shelley as a man. As to his poetry, it produces on me exactly the effect of delicious music, which enchants the ear even when you can't understand it. But these papers, which Lady Shelley has had printed in order to secure their preservation, are a sealed book. I believe she never can show them again to anyone--at least not at present. The copy she lent me has been returned to her and I do not possess it. Nobody else does. It is, therefore, impossible to ask her for a copy. I undertook to compile an article--as I did for Lady Dorchester, on her father--_omissis omittendis_. But that is all. I think the history of Allegra is in great part new, and one of the difficulties in this matter is the connexion existing between these papers and the papers of Lord Byron, which are unpublished.

Are you going to stay in London? I hope so. I shall return to town on November 6, and should be very glad to find you there.

And the Journal accordingly has:--

_November 6th_.--Returned to London.

_18th_.--The troops came back from Egypt.

_December 3rd_.--Archbishop of Canterbury (Tait) died.

_4th_.--The Law Courts opened.

_16th_.--To Foxholes till the end of the year. Gambetta died just as the year expired.

_To Lord Derby_

_Foxholes, December 23rd_.--The Club has lost one of its most respected members in the Archbishop, and all parties seem now to feel how great and wise a man he was. Huxley would be rather an odd successor to an archbishop; but I am inclined to think that he ought to be one of our next additions.

I am a very old and fervent supporter of the Anglo-French alliance, but in the present state of France I doubt whether anything is to be gained by making sacrifices to her pretensions. In justice to other States, such as Italy and Austria, I see no reason for conceding to France any exceptional position in Egypt, and I think all countries should be treated with equal justice and liberality. It is probable that a firm though friendly attitude towards the French will answer best for them and for us. Their expeditions to Congo, Tonkin, and Madagascar will do more harm to themselves than to anyone else; but they prove the weakness of the present French Government.

_From Lord Derby_

_Knowsley, December 25th_.--I agree in what you say about France, if you mean that the dual control is dead and cannot be revived; nor ought it, if it could. Other nations may fairly claim a voice in Egyptian affairs. What I lay stress upon is that we should make it clear that we are not going to take Egypt for ourselves; which nearly all foreigners suppose to be our intention, and give us credit for disguising it so well.

It is odd that the French are doing badly. The country is fairly prosperous, there is no war of classes, no apparent revolutionary feeling, yet distrust and doubt as to the future seem universal. It almost looks as if revolutions had driven the better sort of men out of public life. I cannot believe that their colonial craze will last long. There is, in all Europe, no country to which colonies are so entirely useless; for the French never emigrate and seldom even travel; and to send conscripts to tropical settlements cannot be popular with the peasantry.

As to The Club--I am quite in favour of Huxley's admission; but have we only one vacancy? Would not any possible opposition to him be disarmed, if he were brought in, not singly, but as one of two or three? We must talk over candidates when we meet.... Poor old Owen cannot, in the course of nature, last long. [Footnote: He lived, however, for another ten years, dying at the age of eighty-eight in 1892.] Huxley would be his natural heir; more than the Archbishop's.

_To Lord Derby_

_Foxholes, December 27th_.--To return to what you say of France. Do you not think that a democratic republic, in which every citizen is striving to get all he can for his vote at the expense of the State, necessarily becomes the most rapacious and corrupt form of government? It is this which has raised the budgets of France for 1883 to 122 millions sterling; and if you add the communal expense, to 154 millions. It is this which compels them to persist in a reckless expenditure, and to invent new modes of spending money and creating places by absurd expeditions abroad. The system there, as you say, drives every man of honour and honesty out of political life, and substitutes for them adventurers and idiots. The evil will become more intolerable still, and there will come another revolution, probably at first violent in form and ultimately put down by force. This is a melancholy forecast, but it is that of all the persons in France whose judgement is of value.

As to The Club--we had better not propose Huxley while Owen is amongst us. But we have several octogenarians--Overstone, Henry Taylor; and as for the lower grade of septuagenarians, they are numerous; but I will say nothing of them, as I shall shortly join that body. Altogether The Club presents a respectable array of years, and tends to longevity. I should like an engineer, if we could catch an agreeable one. What would you say to Sir Henry Loch? Few men have seen more of the world--in India, China, the Crimea, down to the Isle of Man; and I think him vastly agreeable. However, we can talk this over when we meet.